Do Less and Accomplish More:

Do Nothing and Accomplish Everything

Clement Park was a breath of fresh air for Sugar Loaf Health Center and from my point of view for the entire world. In a time of super-fast, hype, action figures, Clement was like a slug with arthritis. His slow motions infuriated the Nursing Staff that was weaned and raised on Stat! Stat! Stat! But it was because of this trait he ingratiated himself to everyone else.

After I accustomed myself to his lethargic pace, I came to realize he served as the voice of stability and evenness. And my notes tell me one other thing: that one of the Oriental cultures considers shark tail as the most valuable food because it is completely without flavor, that perfect blandness allows it to be eaten with ALL other foods, which makes it invaluable. Clement was like shark tail. He was THAT bland.

I regret to admit that it took me several years to appreciate the power of his uniqueness. How many times I passed his room and saw him sitting in his leather recliner doing NOTHING and thought he was just vegetating his life away. Or watching him eat in absolute silence: doesn't he have a life? The only things Clement demanded was a little space and a small amount of air. Otherwise he imposed on absolutely no one or any thing. His hypo-paradigm made him utterly predictable, and because of that, Clement Park became the single most reliable and dependable person in all Sugar Loaf. After all, not everyone is always the same.

The reader might think that this vegetative state must have made him the most boring person in existence. Not so. In fact, I found Clement very excitingbecauseof his total lack of ambition. Because Clement threatened no one or obliged them to be defensive or try to impress him, it would have been an absolute waste to try. I honestly think that Mr. Park was incapable of being impressed. Moreover, I found him exciting because he neutralized every group he entered. Every high-tensioned, stressed room he entered just mellowed when this simple man entered. I see from my notes that even the Witch couldn't intimidate him successfully.

Another reason Clement intrigued me was that his jovial silence made people assume that he liked them and was on their side. Like the time the cooks burned the toast and he silently ate it as if he ate burned toast every morning. No one knew how he REALLY felt, but it certainly kept their complaining down. The cooks loved him.

When the water pipe broke, Clement showed his colors and endeared himself to Staff by remaining calm during the emergency. He was standing outside the Heating Room door when the line blew and water gushed between his legs. Less stable Residents scurried around like so many chickens with their heads cut off. The Light Socket Gal was particularly frizzled. Sabastian Purcel heard Noah yell, "Flood!" Herman Eubanks was convinced that Clement was Moses dividing the water with his legs. T. Talbot blubbered, "Water, water, water." And Staff, taking charge as if a 10.5 earthquake had hit Sugar Loaf, leapt here and there as if they were saving the Titanic. But Clement Park just stood, immobile. So stalwart and paternal was his presence that he made many believe there was no real danger, and that, contrasted to Staff causing more chaos than cure, made the whole scene look like a comedy of errors.

Through the years there were others who calmed the tides, and

interestingly they weren't always Staff or Administration but Residents. I noticed that sometimes when the brain-damaged folk were under duress, a few could calm their friends. It just goes to show that you don't need a portfolio full of resumes and degrees to do good. Sometimes the least suspecting people can accomplish a lot by doing nothing.